Washing and ironing machine



I Jung 1932.l

J. T. HUME WASHING AND IRON'ING MACHINE Filed Oct. 12. 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 21, 193,2. J T, HUME 1,863,852

WASHING AND IRONING MACHINE Filed Oct. 12, 1928 4 Shee'cs-Sheel 2 June 2l, 1932.

J. T. HUME WASHING AND IRONING MACHINE granted June-'21,1932

L Y UNITED-STATES PATENToll-lca JOHN T. HUME, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, SSIGNOB TO ELECTRIC HOUSEHOLD UTILITIES CORPORATION, F CICERO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION 0F ILLINOIS washing and ironing'machines and its pur- `v WASHING AND IRoNING,- MACHINE Application led October 12, 1928. Serial No. 312,008.

This invention relates to improvements in pose is to provide a combination machine in which the driving mechanism of the washing machine is utilized for actuating the ironing elements and in which parts of the washing machine cooperate with the ironing elements during the ironing of the clothes. It has heretofore been the practice to employ the driving mechanism of Washing machines y for actuating clothes wringers which have been mounted on the washing machine to swing to wringing positions over the washing machine -and one object. of the present invention is to provide a washing machine in which a part of the driving mechanism which is ernployed for actuating a clothes wringer may be utilized, upon removal of the wringer, for

driving vthe moving parts of an ironing machine adapted to be detachably mounted on the washing' machine structure. The three functions of washing, wringing and ironing may thus be carried on in one composite machine having a common driving mechanism.`

and a common supporting structure. A further object of the invention is to provide a detachable swinging ironing device adapted to be mounted on `a washing machine. Still another object is to provide an improved sim'- plified ironing machine structure comprising relatively movable ironing elements and power driven means for actuating them. Other obj ects-relate to various features of construction and arrangement which will appear more fully hereinafter.

The nature of the invention will be understood from the following specilication taken with the accompanying drawings in which one embodiment drawings, s

Fig. 1 4shows a front elevation of the improved washing and ironing machine with a portion thereof broken away and illustrated in vertical section;

is illustrated. In the Fig; 2 shows a top plan view of the improved machine illustrated in Fig. 1;

. Fig. 3 shows an enlarged horizontal section taken on the line 3-'-3 of Fig. 1; i

Fig. 4 shows an enlarged vertical section taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2;

taken .As illustrated in the drawings, the inven-4 i tion is embodied in 'a machine comprising a cylindrical washing vessel 10 of the tub type having an annular outer wall open at its upper end to provide a circular opening which is normally closed by a removable cover 11 having an annular downwardly extending flange 11a which seats over the upper annular p extremity 10b of the annular wall 10 of the tub with the lower edge of the fianged cover engaging the annular beadA 10 c which is formed in the tub wall.y The covei` 11 is pro-- vided with a central opening bounded by the annular bead 11 and this opening is normally closed by a removable lid 12 having a centrally located handle 13 and providedwith an inwardly and downwardly directed flange 12 which extends on the inner side of the annular bead 11. TheY central portion of the lid 1 2 is depressed as shown at 12b so that the handle 13 does not project materially above the upper surface of the lid. The vessel 10 is carried -by a circular sheet metal frame 14 to which the bottom wall of the tub is secured and this frame is provided with an annular depending flange 14 to which are attached the supporting legs 15. These legs are provided at their Alower ends withl casters 16 by' vertically extending radiating vanes 18l adapted to rest on the Hoor or other support 17 so that the machine may be conveniently moved about.4

vWithin the vessel 10- there is located a clothes agitating device 18 comprising a base plate 18 and an upwardly extending hollow stem 18b which are connected and reinforced with the hub 18d which is formed at the upper end of the stem 18". The casing 21 is mounted within the frame 14 and contains suitable packing material for preventing `leakage from the vessel around the shaft 20. This shaft is journalecl at its lower end' in a bearing 22 carried by a gear housing 23 which is secured on the, under side of the frame 14,.

and it is adapted to be driven by an electric motor 25 through a train of mechanism hereinafter described, for the purpose of imparting an oscillating motion to the clothes agitator 18.

The motor 25 is secured to the under side 0f theframe 14, as shown in Fig. '1, and its shaft 2 is connected through a couplin 27 with an extension shaft 28 journaled 1n a bearing formed in the walls of the housing 23. The gear shaft 28 extends through this Vhousing and has a spiral gear 29 secured thereon as shown in F ig. 3, which meshes with an annular gear 30. This gear 30 is located inthe housing23 and is mounted tovrevolve about a.'I

stub shaft 31 which is securedin a bearin 32 carried by the lower part of the housing. The gear 30 also meshes with a lpinion 33 mounted to revolve about another stub shaft 34 secured in a hub 35 carried by the housing 23. A pinion 35' is keyed to the pinion 33 to revolve therewith, as shown in Fig. 1, and the vpinion 35 meshes with a gear 36 which is splined on the lower end of a vertical operatin shaft 37. The hub of the gear 36 carries aownward extension 3 6a ,which is journaled in the bearing 38 carried by the outer por- -tion of the housing 23 and the weight'of the shaft 37 is carriedv by the roller bearing -39l which is mounted at the lower end of the hub The shaft 37 serves to drive the clothes wringer and also the parts of the ironing mechanism hereinafter described.

An' oscillating motion isA imparted to the vertical shaft 20 and the clothes agitator 18 mounted thereonv through a segmental gear 40 which meshes with -a pinion 41 secured on the shaft 20 above the bearing 22. The segmental gear20 is carried by an oscillatory frame or arm 42 provided at its'outer end with a hub 42a which is journaled on theA depending bearing 43 carried by'a plate 44.

The bearing plate 44 is pivoted on a pin 45 pin 48 mounted on the cylindricalblock 49 which is journaled in a bearing carried by the lowerportion of the housing 46 and secured to 'the lower en d of a shaft 50. This shaft 50 has its upper portion journaled in a bearing 51 carried by the housing 46 and is provided with a crank handle 52 by which it may be operated for'the purpose of turning the pin 48 which is located eccentrically with respect to the axis of the shaft 50. The pin 48 engages an aperture formed in a block 53 which is mounted to slide in a guide 54 formed in the plate 44.` The guide 54 extends in a line radially upward from the axis of the pin and the block 53 is normally moved away from the pin 45 by means of the coil spring 55. The axis of the shaft is so located with respect tothe pin 48 and the block 53 that the spring 55 is adapted to hold the plate 44 in either extreme position to which it may be moved by the operation of the crank handle- 52. When the handle 52 is in one extreme position, the teeth of the segmental gear are in mesh with the pinion 41 as shown in Fig. 3, and when the handle 52 is moved to the other extreme position, the gear teeth are out of mesh to permit the oscillation of the arm or frame 42 without effecting a corresponding oscillatory movement of the clothes agitator 18. This oscil latory movement of the frame 42-is effected by an eccentric 58 which is formed integrally with the upper part of the gear 30 and this eccentric is mounted within a circular aperture 59 formed in a block 60 which is mounted to travel between two parallel guides 6l carried by opposite sides of ther frame 42. The block 60 is supportedby the gear 30 and when the eccentric 58 Vrot-ateswith the gear 305 the block 60 is operated by the eccentric` to impart an oscillatory movement to the frame. 42 about its pivotal bearing hub 43.

It will be apparent that the shaft 37 rotates continuously during the operation of the motor 25 and the rotation of this'sliaft is lnade use of for operating the ironing machine indicated generally at 65. The ironing machine comprises a rotatable roll 66 and the relatively movable heated ironing shoe Lacasse 67 both of which are carried by a frame or casing 68 adapted to be detachably mounted on the upper end of the housing 46. The walls of the housing 46 diverge upwardly .'5 at the upper end of the housing to form a tapered socket which is ada' tedto be fitted by a correspondingly tapere socket member 69 provided at its upper end with an outwardly directed annularllange 69* which is m located within the depending flange 70 ed to engage loosely any one of a plurality of notches 73 which are formed in the outwardly directed flange 46 formed on the upper end of the housing 4.6.\` In the present embodiment, live of the notches 73 are formed in the flange 46, as shown in Fi 6, and this `permits the operator to locate t e casing 68 in any desired position for the purpose of positioning the ironing elements 66 and 67 in a suitable position either over the washing vessel 10 or in a position disposed outwardly therefrom. The casing 68 and the other parts of the ironing machine may be lifted up to permit the turning of the ironing elements to the desired position and then the parts may be lowered to cause the pin 72 to engage the desired notch 73.

` The rotatable roll 66 comprises a sheet `,metal cylinder 75 upon which are mounted superimposed layers 76 of suitable cloth adapted to g5 contact with the clothes being ironed. 'This cloth may be a fabric woven from hemp or the like and it may be wound on the cylinder 75 in spiral fashion. The cylinder 75 is supported by a pair of end frames or disks77 o formed of sheet metal and-having annular flanges 77 which fit within and are secured to the end portions of the cylinder 75. The disks 77 are provided with central apertures bounded by laterally and inwardly extending flanges 7 7" which fit over and are secured to the bearing members 78 which are adapted to rotate upon a hollow axle 79. This axle is secured in bearings 80 carried by the casing 68 and it-serves as a relatively stationary a support for the rotatable roll 66 which is driven by a shaft 81 located within the axle. A driving connection' is established between the shaft 81 and the roll 66st the outer end of the cylinder 75 through a driving' member 82 which is secured to the shaft 81 by a set screw 83 and which-is provided with a cylindrical portion 82 journaled in a bearing 84 secured within the outer end of the axle 79. The driving member 82 has a lateral prof jection 82b in which there is slidably mounted a pin 85 extending parallel to the axis of the shaft 81 and adapted to engage an aperture 86 which is formed in the o A tion of stamping the adjacent disk 77. *le'he pin 85 is provided 'with a knurler head 85n to be engaged by the fingers of the operator and it is'held l in adjusted position by meal of al spherical ball 88 engaging anl annular groove 85b formed in the pin, the ball being forcedoutlwardly by a coil spring 89. 4When the pin 85 is withdrawn from engagement withthe aperture 86, the driving connection between the shaft 81 and the roll is brokenl which condition may be desirable, for example, when it is desired to re-wind the cylinder 75 with the cloth covering 76.

The shaft 81 of the ironing roll 66 is driven from the upright shaft 37 through certain mechanism comprising a spiral gear 90 which is mounted in the casing 68, as shown in Fig. 5,V and which is provided at its ends with journals 90 and 90b journaled in the bushings 91 and 92, respectively, mounted in bear' ings whichr are formed in the upper and lower partsY of the casing. The lower end of this 4spiral gear is provided with a socket member 93 having internal longitudinal teeth through which a .driving connection is estab` lished with the teeth 94 formed on. theupper end of the shaft 37 while at the same time permitting the spiral gear to be withdrawn from the upper end of the shaft when the casing 68 Aand the ironing elements are removed from the housing 46. The spiral gear 90 meshes with a gear 95 having a laterally extending ub 95* which is journaled in the bushing 96 fixed within the inner end of the hollow shaft 79, asV shown in Fig. 7. The

shaft 81 is journaled within the hub 95a of the gear 95 and a driving connection is adapted to be established between the sha-ft with the external longitudinal teeth formed f and the gear by means of clutch mechanism on a sleeve 98 which is secured to theshaft y 81 by a transverse pin 99. The movable clutch sleeve 97 thus has a driving connection with 'the shaft 81 and when it is moved inwardly tothe position shown in Fig. 7, itis adapted to be driven by the gear 95 through the action of an annular-gear member 100 secured to the side of the gear 95 byri-vets 101 and having internal annular teeth adapted to mesh with the gear lteeth 102 on the clutch member 97. When the clutch member97 ismovcd longitudinally of the shaft 81, toward the right as viewed in Fig'. 7, the gear teeth 102 are moved out of mesh with the teeth of the gear member 100 so that the gear 95 is thenpermitted to rotate freely without driving the shaft 81.

The clutch member 97 is normally maintained in the inner position shown in Fig. 7 by the action of a coil spring 103 which is mounted within the bore 104 of a shaft 105. The coil spring engages a plunger 106 which is secured to a circular plate 107 attached to the ange 97 formed on the end of the mov-- able clutch member. The clutch member is the action offa bell crank lever 108 which is pivoted at 109 on a bracket`110 mounted in the lower part of the casing 68. The bell crank lever 108 is bifurcated at one end to form upwardly extending arms 108 which vhas a screw-threaded engagement with the Walls of an aperture lformed in the end of the casing. 68. The shaft 105 lis provided at: its outer end with an enlarged head 105`nprof vided with a transverse bore 114 in which there is slidably mounted an operating handle 115. V-"I`his'handle is provided at one end with a circular member 116 adapted to be engagedby the hand of the operator and the other end is engaged by a nutwhich limits its sliding movement in the bore 114. The

operating handle 115 is `provided withtwo annular` grooves 118 either of which may.

be engagedby a ball 119 mounted in the re-A cess 120 formed` in the head 105", and actuated by a spring'l21 to engage the handle 115.

This permits the handle to be held inthe extended position shown in Fig. 1 or to be moved upwardly and held with the ball'116 adjacent the head '1058, -thus enabling the operator to locate thehandle in a position wherein it will not interfere with' the operation of ironing. By turning the handle 115, the cam 112 is operated to force the arm 108c of the bell crank lever downwardly and thereby disengage the clutch member 97 from its driving engagement with the gear 95. This movement of the cam 112 is also utilized for effecting movement of the ironing shoe 67 with respect to the roll 66.

The shoe 67 comprises a metal. plate 125 of substantially the same length as the roll 66 and provided with an inner convex surface" adapted to conform to thercurvature of the outer surface of the roll. This plate is provided at its edges with fianges 125ZL ,which are adapted to hook over the upper'and lower edges of the supporting plate 126 which is similarly curved in cross section and which l `is attached by rivets to a supporting bracket 127. An electrical heating plate 128, comprising one or more suitable conductors mounted between or embedded in resistance material, contact-s with the inner side of the plate 125 and is spaced from the rear plate 126 by a body of insulatingematerial 129. The conductor of the heating member 128 is connected in an electric circuit capable of being controlled by the operator. The shoe 67 is 'carried by an arm 130 provided at its upper end with a hub 131 which is mounted be-A to the supporting'arm 130 and the' shoe is normally heldin the position shown in Fig. 5, when out of engagement vwith the roll, by a leaf spring 135 having its free enden# gaging the lower rear edge of the shoe andhaving tsother end attached to the arm 130 after being -passed around the hub 131. This e' normal inclination ofthe shoe 67 with respect to the supporting arm '130 causes the lower edge of the shoe to engage the roll 66 before other parts-of theshoe contact with the roll e into engagement, thus `insuring a progressive engagement-of the shoe with the roll from the lower edge of the shoe so that the clothes pass- A ing between the ironing elements will be efl fectiv'ely ironed without any wrinkles therein if they be passed between the shoe and the'` vroll before these parts are fully in engagement with each other.

The lower` end of the supporting arm 1 30 is when the two ironing elements are brought provided with a bifurcated hub 136 having by the clamping stud 138. By this alrangement, the arm 130 is clamped on the `outer end of a hollow shaft 139 which is jourhaled in bushings 140 fixed within the inner and outer ends of a hollow supporting axle141. This axle is secured in bearings 142 which are formed in the rear extension 68b of the housl shaft and` is adapted to engage a recess 147* formed in a cylindrical block 147.l This block is adapted to move in the cylindrical portion a 68 of the housing 68 which connects the main portion of the housing with the chamber 144. The member 147 is mounted on a plunger 148 which is connected at its upper end with a which there extends a pin 151 having mounted upon it a roller 152. This roller is .adapted to engage the face l112l of the cam 112b which is disposed on the side opposite the face 112aby which the bell crank lever 108 is operated. A coil spring/l/is/nround .d

\ears 137 projecting therefromand engaged 95 piston 149 adapted to slide inthe tubular .-1,20

on the plunger 148 between the piston 149 and the block 147 and the movementl of the block away from the piston which is caused by this spring is limited by a washer 155 mounted on the plunger to contact with the adjustable nut 156 which is secured to the threaded end of the plunger. Another coil spring 157 surrounds the nut 156 and engages the washer 155 at its upper end while its lower end seats in a recess 158a formed inthe cap member 158 which threadedly engages the lower end of the casing portion 68. When the handle 115 is operated to rotate the cam 112 to the position shown in Fig. 4, the piston 149 and plunger 148 are forced downwardly and this motion is imparted to the block 147 through the spring 154 thereby effecting the rotation of the pin 146 and its connected shaft 139 on which the shoe 67 is mounted. The shoe 67 is thus moved into engagement with the ironing roll 66 as shown in Fig. 4, and is maintained in yielding engagement therewith through the action of the coil spring 154. When clothes pass betweenthe roll and the shoe during the operation of ironing, the spring 154 yields suiiiciently to permit the necessary separation of the roll and the shoe. The washer 155 seats against a shoulder at the upper end of the threaded portion of the plunger 148 and the engagement of the coil spring 157 with this washer maintain-s the roller 152 in close contact with the cam surface 112". When the cam 112 is rotated'to its other extreme position, the roller 152 engages the indentation at the other end' of the cam surface 112a while at the same time there is an upward movement of the piston 149 and( plunger 147, under the inuence -of the spring 157 to cause the shoe 67 to move away from the roll 66 to the position shown in Fig. 5.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that this invention provides means whereby the driving mechanism of a simplified form of power-driven washing machine may be utilized not only for actuating a clothes wringer adapted to be rswung to and from the position over the washing machine, but also foractuating an ironing machine which may have a similar swinging movement and which is adapted to replace the clothes wringer' for actuation by the same mechanism which is provided'for'driving the rolls `of the wringer. The clothes wringer, which is not illustrated in the drawings, is provided with aA tapered member similar to the member 69 for engagement with the upper portion of the housing 46 and the driving mechanism of the wringer is adapted t0 establish a connection with the shaft 37 through the teeth 94. lVhen the wringer has been removed, the ironing machine may be replaced on the housing 46- in the manner illustrated in Fig. 5 and by mounting the housing 68 in the desired angular position on the housing 46, the ironing elements 66 and 67 may be .caused to assume any desired position with respect to the washing vessel 10. In the operation of ironing, the roll 66 andshoe 67 are preferably disposed over the vessel 10 as shownin Fig. 2, so that'the cover 11 and its removable lid portion 12 may be utilized as a clothes support for the clothesbeing ironed.i When the machine is being operated as an ironing machine, the motion of the clothes agitator 18 may be arrested by operating the handle 52 to move the teeth of the segmental gear 40 out of engagement with the teeth of the pin 41 which actuates the agitator shaft 20. The upright shaft 37 operates continuously during the operation of the motor -25 and when the cam 1-12 has been actuated by the handle 115 to move the clutch member 97 into driving engagement with the gear 95, a driving connection is established between the shaft 37 and the shaft 81 so that the roll 66 is then driven to permit the ironing of clothes, assuming that the clutch pin 85 is in engagement with the aperature 86in the outer disk 77 of the roll. The motion of the cam 112 which is necessary to establish a driving connection between the shaft 37 and the shaft 8L also serves to turn the hollow shaft 139 to move the shoe 67 into engagement with the roll so that the rotation of the roll is started simultaneously with the movement of the -shoe to' ironing position and this is efected by the actuation of a single o erating member 115. Similarly, when t e rotation of the roll is arrested by disengaging the clutch member 97, the shoe is simultaneously moved away from the roll so that there is no danger of burning the cloth covering 76 by the heated shoe. The electric circuit of the heating element of the shoe is preferably connected through a plug 160 with flexible insulated conductors 161 leading from a source of electrical current having connected therein an electric switch 112 which is preferably mounted on the housing extension 68b in a position to be engaged conveniently by the fingers of the operator so that the current can be readily shut of or turned on when desired.

The mechanism for actuating the clothes agitator, described above, is claimed in my \co-pending application Serial No. 388,456,

led February 8, 1929, and the hereindelscribed ironing mechanism is claimed in my co-pending application Serial No. 332,062, filed January 12, 1929. l

Although one form of the invention has been shown and described by way of illustration, it will be understood that it may be constructed in various other embodiments within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

In combination, a support, `a driving shaft mounted adjacent said support', a frame de;

- -tachably and rotatably mounted on said support, an ironing roll and a relatively movable shoe carried by said frame, a shaft vfor rotating said roll, a gear actuated by said driving shaft, a lmanually operated clutch for connecting said gear with said second? named shaft, and means actuated by the operation of said clutch for effecting movement o f said shoe with respect to said roll.

10 In testimony whereof, I have subscribed 

